About Us
The Family Farmers Seed Cooperative (FFSC) is a family farmer-owned cooperative that produces high quality, open-pollinated, public domain, non-GMO, Certified Organic seeds for farmers and other wholesale markets. We offer a diverse range of crop seeds that have been naturally selected for desirable traits and that are adapted to diverse bioregions.
Who We Are
The Family Farmer Seed Cooperative (FFSC) is a farmer-owned cooperative that produces high quality, organic, open-pollinated, public domain seeds for farmers. FFSC took root in 2008, when eight experienced organic seed farmers from Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and North Dakota formed a cooperative, seeking to protect seed sovereignty and the supply of organic, open pollinated, public domain seeds in the face of growing consolidation and homogenization in the seed industry. We now have 13 members, recently adding farms from Nebraska and Oregon, and soon to be expanding into California and Idaho. (See FFSC Membership if you are an interested seed grower.)
We're skilled, seasoned organic produce and seed growers who specialize in diverse vegetable crops and are located in several distinct bioregions in the US. This diversity strengthens our ability to offer a wide range of crops that are adaptive to many soils and climates, including multiple varieties of beans, corn, greens, lettuce, melons, root vegetables, soybeans, squash (winter and summer), tomatoes and garlic.
Our Mission: Strengthening Seed Sovereignty and Seed Security
Our over-arching mission is to fundamentally change our food system from one that relies on distant, industrialized, monocultural farm operations to a system that derives its food from ecologically-based, diverse, local and regional farms and gardens.
We recognize the urgent need to protect seed sovereignty - the right of the public to own and develop our seed supply - if we are to ensure food security and live in a healthy and just society. We also know genetic biodiversity is the foundation of a healthy ecosystem and society, and that climate change is affecting agriculture in dynamic and unpredictable ways that require adaptation in our seed and methods of farming. To meet these needs, we are focused on improving and expanding the seed supply in two key ways:
1) Producing high quality seed of important existing, public domain, organically-grown, open-pollinated varieties and maintaining varietal integrity through continual selection
2) Creating new, better performing organically-grown, open pollinated varieties through trait selection or intentional crosses
The key element for maintaining or improving any seed variety is that the selection process never stops. With every generation of plants responding to a changing climate, each new selection leads to further adaptations. This responsive, open-pollinated breeding approach, successfully employed by farmers for millennia, is still needed today for securing a long-term healthy food system accessible to all of humanity. It is a deliberate and necessary counter to the current model that monopolizes the world's seed supply. Learn more about our seed development and improvement efforts.
Our Customers & Where to Buy Our Seed
We began selling certified organic garlic in August 2011 and will launch our online store and begin taking pre-orders for bulk quantities of our certified organic, open pollinated seed for the 2012 season in November 2011.
FFSC is focusing on providing seed for organic market growers, with an emphasis on small to medium-sized operations. We'll also work with seed companies to develop and produce varieties suited to their particular needs. Community garden organizations and other grower groups seeking bulk quantities of high quality seed will also be served.
We are unable to offer garden size packets to other gardening enthusiasts but encourage you to ask for FFSC seed through your favorite garden seed outlets or purchase bulk quantities to share with fellow gardeners.
Quality
Developing and delivering quality seed is foundational to everything we do. All varieties offered have been grown successfully in organic farming systems and include some or all of the following important traits:
1) adaptability to specific climatic and/or soil conditions
2) adaptability to a wide range of environments; i.e. "workhorse varieties"
3) durable disease and/or pest resistance
4) reliably good/excellent yields
5) distinctive horticultural/consumer characteristics such as outstanding flavor, unique color, or elevated nutritional content
Learn more about our quality assurance efforts.
Our Business Model
